††† Sins †††

[The Harbinger]

††† Parental and NSFW Advisory †††

††† Scenes will contain Violence of a graphic nature, Foul Language and Adult Content. †††

††† You've been warned. ††† 

††† The Past †††

It had been a couple of weeks since Danika had gone to spend a little time with her old college roommate, Rowan Dechante'.. No, correction.. Rowan Dechante'-Devereaux.

At any rate, she and Rowan had spent a week catching up, flying up to New York City to go shopping and have a spa day. And then Rowan held a benefit in honor of her friend, Dr. Danielle Bay.

The benefit was a Black, Red and White Masquerade. Of course, that was the whole reason Rowan had taken Dani to New York City to go shopping.

The dress that Danielle wore for that night was a black “Zuhair Murad” one shouldered (left arm)/long sleeved (right arm), drop hem, squin and lace dress. And the heels she wore with it were a pair of three inch, open-toed heels that wove around and up her ankles.

And the mask that was pressed to her face matched the dress in that fact that only part of her upper face was covered with the diamond encrusted black filigree design. The left side of the mask rose up above her eyebrow. The right side of the mask held most of the same design above the eyebrow, but then dipped down her eye and down her cheek to rest in an elegant curl just above the soft upturn of her lips.

As they were getting ready for the ball, Rowan came in to see how Dani was coming along. Rowan had brought her personal hairdresser and make-up artist with them to New Orleans for the ball. Danielle was sitting in a chair while the hairdresser finished braiding the front part of her hair.

“I just came to see how the Guest of Honor was fairing.”, Rowan smiled brightly at Dani. The make-up artist was applying black eye shadow to the lids of Danielle's eyes. And as the hairdresser moved to pull Danielle's hair up into a side pony tail, the make-up artist began to fade the black eye-shadow into a seductive shade of red. That same red shade was then used to outline the bottom of her eyelashes. One the black and red was blended in perfectly, the make-up artist dabbed a bit of silver along the top of the eyelid just above the black and blended it in softly.

“I have to say, Ro.. I'm enjoying the pampering.”, she smiled with closed eyes because the make-up artist was applying black eyeliner and then gave instructions so that she could apply black mascara to her lashes. When instructed, Danielle opened her eyes and blinked a few times to get her eyes refocused.

“Perfect.”, exclaimed Ro. “Well, I am going to go finish getting my own pampering.” She wiggled fingers at Danielle just as the make-up artist began to work on applying the same seductive shade of red on those bow shaped lips of hers.

Once the hairdresser got the side pony tail secured, she began to tease her hair for a bit of volume to go with the curls. She then moved to wrap the remaining braid around the base of the pony tail. Then the woman secured the “messy” updo with hairspray and stepped back so the make-up artist could finish up her own masterpiece with Danielle's make-up.

When the make-up artist was done, she smiled proudly. “You're going to knock them dead tonight, Love.”

The hairdresser stood up and moved to stand before Danielle and nodded in agreement. “Oui.”, the woman's thick Creole accent drawled out beautifully. “Now, chere', to complete the masterpiece and get you dressed.”

The hairdresser then moved to get the mask placed against her face and moved around to secure it with it's string. She then secured it with some hairpins that were hidden within the waves of curls in her hair. When the hairdresser stepped away from Danielle, one might think Danielle would turn around to look at herself. But no.

What she did instead was moved over to get dressed. She stepped into the dress as the hairdresser and make-up artist assisted her. Once she had her arm snugly into the long laced sleeve, the hairdresser proceeded to zip the dress up. Danielle had already been wearing a pair of black lacy boy-short panties with a pair of black silk stockings. There was no need for a bra as the dress was “backless” and well, Dani was rather “perky” in the bust department.

Now that the dress was on, the make-up artist moved to kneel before Danielle and helped slip those heels on. The hairdresser helped Danielle to balance carefully as one foot slipped into the right heel and she waited as the woman “laced” the heel up. That secure, she then slipped into the left heel. Again waiting until it was “laced” up before taking a step back.

“Well?”, Danielle asked. Rather nervously.

“Oh my God, you are breath-takingly beautiful.”, the make-up artist breathed in shock and awe.

“C'est magnifique. La' perfection absolue'.”, exclaimed the hairdresser.

Danielle didn't want to ruin the majestic feeling she was having at the moment, so she didn't turn around to look. She put her absolute trust into the two men that stood before her and turned her into the beautiful swan she felt like at that moment.

She turned to look at the two men and moved to hug them both. “You two are.. amazing!”, she gushed happily. “Thank you soo much.”

And with that.. She turned and headed out of the hotel suite and down to the ballroom...

††† Later that Night †††

The ball had been a total success.

Between Rowan and Danielle, they were able to raise four times their projected amount to donate to a few of the local mental health clinics and two half-way houses.

And Danielle.. She was the Belle of the Ball.

Everyone wanted to get a chance to meet her. A few of the men vied for her undivided attention. A few even had the gumption to give her their number and asked for a date. Of course, she had no intention of dating them; let alone calling them.

When she left the hotel that night to head home (much to Rowan's objections), she waltzed out of the ballroom with an ethereal smile upon those seductive red lips and a dreamy look in her eyes.

And then..

And then she turned down that bridge.

And it was that very night that her life completely changed.

It was that night.. It was that very spot..

..That she met Him.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

“Arrogance is weakness.”

Her voice came out of the darkness.
The screen was completely black.

“Weakness disguised as Strength.”

There was no vision that appeared upon the screen as it remained blackened.

“An arrogant man..
..considers himself to be..
..perfect.”

A soft laugh.

“You are far from perfect, Baron.
And you know this.”

A gentle inhaled breath.

“And that's what tears your soul apart.
..Try as you might to hide it..
..To deny it.
We all have seen the truth.
A truth you fight to keep buried.”

A soft “Tsk tsk tsk” was heard.

“There is your mistake.
The more you fight it..
..the more you fight Vega..
The sweeter his victory is going to be.
The more complete his infestation..
..of your mind..
..will be.”

An almost girlish laugh flew from the screen.

“Amy.”

She sighed audibly this time.

“Poor forgotten Amy.
Poor misbegotten Amy.”

The soft sound of heels could be heard.
It gave the impression that Danika began to pace.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.

“Your delusions of grandeur..
This..
..belief..
..that you have that you can..
..somehow take either myself or Michael out.
It's amusing.”

Another sigh was released to the darkness.

“You can't even remember the names of your partners..
..And you truly expect us to fear you?
..To..
..run at the sight of you while you brandish your little knives?”

Another laugh heard.
The silence came.
It came and remained.
For a few moments.

“Poor little Bethany.”

A small pause.

“Did you know..
..A person's true colors will always..
..Always..
..show within time?
You may be fooled..
You may have fooled others..
For the moment.”

“But be patient, Bethany..
..Be patient and see what happens.”

“Look back, Bethany.
Look back and remember..”

“Remember that it was the people you cared about..
..Are the ones you hurt the most.”

“With all of their bravado and childish insults from Kyle Travis and Sentinel..
..Of being a whore..
When it's really you who is the whore.”

“You betrayed the man you claim to love.
Then you betrayed your best friend...
..By falling in love with her husband..
..The very man you had schemed to betray not but a few months before.”

“And then there was Carrie.
And then Aerynn.”

“And then came the ultimate betrayal..
The betrayal of your own flesh and blood..
..Your sister.”

“All of you..
..Sinners..
None of you know the value of loyalty.
And in not knowing that value..
You'll never appreciate the cost of betrayal.”

And then there was static.